Adjustable safety razor



March 3, 1931. THOMPSON 1,794,655

//\/ VE/V TU/FL Patented Mar. 3, 1931 i NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RALPH EMERSON THOMPSON, F BROOKLINE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO GIL- IJETTE SAFETY RAZOR COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE ADJUSTABLE SAFETY RAZOR Application filed March 1'2, 1929. Serial No. 346,398.

This invention relates to safety razors of d the type in which a flexible blade is clamped, shaped and positioned in respect to its edge exposure by cooperating cap and guard members.

In safetyrazors employing a flexible blade it is customary to clamp the blade in a curved condition between the guard and cap and in this operation the sharp edge of the blade is positioned with a definite amount of separation or edge exposure from the effective face of theguard. In those cases where a minimum edge exposure is secured when the blade is held in its position of maximum curvature by the cap and guard a greater edge exposure or a coarser adjustment of the razor has been available by separating the cap and guard to a greater or lesser degree. While this expedient is effective and sometimes satisfac tory in the case of any razor where the parts of the razor are not worn and still fit closely, it involves a loosening of the whole razor organization which sometimes'permits the head to swivel while in use with serious danger to the user. I

In one as set the. present invention consists in a sa ety razor of the type above described in which the clam ing relation of the cap and guard may be varied to effect adjustments of the edge exposure of the blade without necessitating any looseness in the razor organization and in which the cap and-guard are maintained in rigid clamping engagementfor all different adjustments of the edge exposure of the blade. These results I have discovered may be secured by providlng means for adjustably spacing the cap and guard members having curved blade engaging surfaces which determine the curvature of the blade.

Preferably, and in accordance with another feature of the invention, the cap and guard are connected by a threaded stem and adjusting means arranged concentrically with respect to the connecting stem are proylded for adj ustably determining the clamping position of the cap and guard. This arrangement .provides a compact, eflicientjand rigid structure and provides capacity for ad ustment. 1n the razor without requiring complicated manipulation or unusual skill in adjustment on the part of the user.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof selected for the purpose of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawing, in which F 1g. 1 is a view in prospective of the razor,

Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 are views in cross section on av larger scale illustrating two different adjustments of the blade, and,

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on a still larger scale of a portion of the razor illustrating the manner of adjusting the blade.

' The invention is shown herein as embodied in a safety razor of the Gillette type although it is not limited in its application to this or to any other specific type of safety razor.

The razor illustrated in the drawings oomprises a cap member 16 having a concave curved blade-engaging surface and a centrally disposed threaded stem 17. It is also provided with a pair of projecting studs 18 located one at either side of the central stem and cooperating with the cap member 16 in shaping the blade. The guard member 10 has a convex curved blade-engaging surface and is provided along both edges with a series of guard teeth 14 rounded at their outer ends for smoothly engagin the face of the user, The guard has a centra perforation to receive the threaded stem 17 of the cap and two equally spaced perforations at either side thereof to receive the studs 18 of the cap.

The end of the stem 17 passes 1nto a handle 22 which is internally threaded to receive the threaded end of the stem 17 and cooperates therewith to bring the cap and guard into blade-engaging position and maintain them with the blade clamped and shaped between them. The central opening in the fguard times by its threaded shank which if desired 20 is provided with three aligned apertures for receiving the studs 18 and the stem 17 respectively of the cap member 16. In assembling the razor, the blade, which is normally flat, is placed upon the cap with its openings threaded over the stem and studs.

' The threaded end of the sleeve 12 bears against the inner face of the blade holding it at all times against the concave blade engaging surface of the cap. The sleeve 12 is adjustable between the limits indicated in Figs. 2 and 3, that is to say, from the position in Fig. 3 in which its end face is substantially flush with the blade-engaging surface of the guard and a position in which the flange 14 engages the outer surface of the guard and the end of the sleeve projecting substantially beyond the convex blade engaging surface thereof. I In using the safety razor herein disclosed when a minimum edge exposure is desired the adjusting collar 12 is rotated to the position shown in Fig. 3 in which the threaded end of the collar lies flush with the guard sur- I face and the initial graduation of the scale on the flange 14 lies opposite the zero mark on the guard. Under these conditions when the handle 22 is turned to the limit of its clamping movement the cap 16 is spaced from the guard 10 only by the thickness of the blade 20 and the latter is bent by the concave bladeengaging surface of the cap 16 relatively close to the convex blade-engaging surface of the guard 10. The edge exposure or the separation of the blade edge from the surface of the guard is now a minimum and is suggested by the dotted line position marked fA in Fig. 4. It will be seen that the stem 17 is drawn firmly into the handle 22 while the latter reacts against the outer end of the sleeve 12 and that the clamping engagement of all the razor parts is rigid.

On the other hand, when a maximum edge exposure is desired, the sleeve 12 is turned in a clockwise direction and its end iscaused to project beyond the convex bladeengaging surface of the guard, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4. Under these conditions, when the han- .d1e 22'is turned to draw in the shank 17, the cap 16 is maintained positively spaced from the guard not onl by'the thiclmess of the blade but b the a ditional' distance determined by t e projecting end of the sleeve,

12. In other words the two curved blade en- 5 gaging surfacesareheld apart and the blade is not curved so closely to the surface of the guard as in the first case. The blade exposure is therefor greater and corresponds to the position indicated by B in Fig. 4. In this case and in every intermediate setting of the sleeve 12 it will be seen that there is a positive'metal to metal clamping engagement between parts of the razor so that looseness is entirely eliminated and the clamping condition is uniform in all different positions of adjustment.

Having thus described my invention and particularly one thereof, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A safety razor comprising a flexible blade, cap and guard members having cooperating blade-shaping surfaces, a threaded stem for maintaining the cap and guard members in different positions of clamping engagement with the blade, and a rotatable adjustable stop mounted in one of said members and having a concentric opening for the passage of said stem and being adapted by end engagement positively to limit the position of fiearest approach of said cap and guard memers.

2. A safety razor comprising a flexible blade, cap and guard members having cooperating blade-shaping'surfaces, a rotatable adjustable stop having threaded connection with one of said members and adapted to hold the inner part of the blade out of contact with the surface thereof, and means acting through said stop for maintaining the cap and guard members firmly in positions of different clamping engagement with the blade.

3. A safety razor comprising a flexible blade, cap and guard members having cooperating convex and concave blade-shaping surfaces, means for maintaining said members firmly in positions of different clamping engagement with the blade, and a stop rotatably mounted in one member adjustable variably to limit the location of effective engagement of the blade shaping surfaces with the blade.

4. A safety razor comprising a flexible blade, a guard with a convex blade-engaging surface, an adjustable sleeve threaded into said guard and arranged to project variably beyond the surface thereof, a cap having a concave blade-engaging surface and a stem arranged to project through said sleeve, and a handle havin threaded engagement with said stem and whereby the guard and cap may be brought preferred embodiment I earing against said sleeve, 7

into rigid blade clamping position in all ad-' justed positions of the sleeve.

5. A safety razor comprising a flexible blade, guard and cap members having cooperating faces for positioning and clamping the blade between them, a sleeve threaded -in to the guard and arranged to be projected beyond the blade-clamping face thereof to hold the cap in spaced relation, and clamping means including a handle having a threaded connection with the cap and making an abuttin contact with the sleeve eifective to hold t e cap and guard firmly in clamping relation in all adjusted positions of spacing.

6. A safety razor comprising a flexible blade, cap and guard members having 00- operating blade-shaping faces, a threaded stem projecting from the cap through the guard, a handle connected to the stem for drawing said cap and guard together, and an adjusting sleeve concentric with said stem and moveable to differentpositions positively to limit by end engagement the point of nearest approach of the cap and guard members, whereby said members may be maintained rigidly in difierent spaced relations.

Signed at Boston, Massachusetts, this eighth day of March, 1929.

RPH EMERSON THOMPSON. 

